Month: November 2014

MDP rejects MP Shareef’s proposal to reduce Supreme Court bench

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) national executive council has rejected an amendment proposed by MDP MP Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef to reduce the number of Supreme Court judges from the current seven to five.

Speaking to the press today, opposition leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed said the amendments would require reappointment of the Supreme Court bench, and said the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives’ (PPM) majority in the parliament and their refusal to consider the opposition’s concerns would result in a bench biased towards the PPM.

“The current issues within the judicial system does not amount to the number of judges at the Supreme Court. There are bigger issues that require immediate resolution,” he said.

In a speech last night, Nasheed described the amendments as an attempt by the PPM to fit the Supreme Court bench into President Abdulla Yameen’s fist.

The amendments came in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to accept a complaint over “an unconstitutional decision” to reappoint the auditor general, he claimed. The Supreme Court today rejected the complaint.

Shareef defected from the MDP to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) in 2008, but rejoined the MDP during the presidential elections of 2013. Gayoom left the DRP to form PPM in 2011.

Shareef said he believed a seven member Supreme Court to be too large for the Maldives. He has also proposed two three-member High Court benches be established in the North and South.

Meanwhile, MDP Parliamentary Group Leader Ibrahim ‘Ibu’ Mohamed Solih said Shareef had not consulted the party before he submitted amendments.

MDP Chairperson Ali Waheed said the party’s MPs are now obliged to proceed with the national council’s decision.

Meanwhile, local media reported that Hulhuhenveiru MP and Deputy Speaker ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik had boycotted the council meeting following a heated argument. Speaking to Haveeru afterwards, Manik pledged to support Shareef, even he if he has to do so alone, and claimed MDP members had treated Shareef disrespectfully at today’s meeting.

The Supreme Court – established in 2008 – has been in the midst of numerous controversies in and out of the Court room.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court used a ‘suo moto’ proceeding – allowing the Court to act as both the plaintiff and the judge – against the Elections Comission (EC)’s President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Ahmed Fayaz.

They were charged with contempt of court and disobedience to order and sentenced to six months in jail as a result of testimony given in the People’s Majlis independent commission’s oversight committee.

More recently, the Court employed a similar ‘suo moto’ proceeding against the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) after it criticized the judiciary in its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) sent to the UN.

The Court charged HRCM with undermining the constitution and sovereignty of the Maldives by spreading lies about the judiciary in the UPR while stating that the report – based on a 2013 report by the UN Special Rapporteur for Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knau – was ‘poorly researched’, ‘irresponsible’ and ‘dangerous.’

June this year also saw Judge Ali Hameed – a sitting Judge at the Supreme Court – being cleared of a sex tape scandal after three recordings surfaced allegedly showing Ali Hameed engaging in sexual acts with three different woman.

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Niyaz challenges auditor general reappointment clause at High Court

Former Auditor General (AG) Niyaz Ibrahim has requested the High Court to declare the People’s Majlis’ decision to reappoint the AG as unconstitutional.

President Abdulla Yameen yesterday approved Hassan Ziyath as the new AG hours after 59 MPs voted in his favor. The ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) had pushed through a surprise amendment to the Audit Act on October 29 requiring the AG be reappointed within 30 days.

Speaking to Minivan News, Niyaz’s lawyer Ibrahim Riffath said Niyaz could not be dismissed half way through his seven year term through an amendment to the Audit Act.

“Article 215 of the Constitution clearly sets the AG’s term to seven years. Niyaz was appointed in May 2011. Further, Article 218 states the AG’s position only becomes vacant if the incumbent resigns or through a no confidence vote by the People’s Majlis,” he explained.

“The Majlis will have to amend the constitution to dismiss him by any other means.”

Niyaz has also requested that the High Court issue an injunction on the enforcement of the new amendment.

According to Riffath, the High Court is yet to make a decision on accepting the case as the matter had been lodged at the Supreme Court as a public interest litigation matter.

The Supreme Court this evening rejected the case. The High Court now has no legal barriers in examining the case, Riffath said.

“This is a very sensitive issue. I hope the High Court expedites a verdict. If the amendment is unconstitutional, as we believe it to be, then the legality of the current auditor general’s actions are questionable.”

Yameen’s appointment of Ziyath for the post has raised controversy as his brother, Abdulla Ziyath was recently implicated in a US$6million corruption scandal alongside tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb.

Niyaz had revealed the corrupt transactions in a special audit report a day after PPM MPs pushed through the Audit Act amendment.

The audit report accused Abdulla Ziyath, the Managing Director of state owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) of illegally pushing through loans worth US$6million from state funds to two private companies owned by Adeeb’s family members.

Adeeb has denied allegations, and accused Niyaz of colluding with MP and former Deputy Speaker of parliament Ahmed Nazim in releasing the audit report. Adeeb suggested Nazim had a personal vendetta against him following his refusal to support Nazim for the Majlis Speakership in May.

The Criminal Court on October 26 withheld Nazim’s passport on allegations of blackmail.

Hassan Ziyath yesterday received cross party support from ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), its allies the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and Jumhooree Party, as well as the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

MDP MPs including ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, Ahmed Marzooq, ‘Rukuma’ Mohamed Abdul Kareem and Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef voted in favor despite the party previously claiming the amendment was unconstitutional.

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Two MNDF officers and a policeman arrested in Malé drug bust

The Maldives Police Services has arrested two officers of the Maldives National Defense Forces (MNDF) and a policeman in a drug bust this morning.

Speaking to the press today, Drug Enforcement Department’s (DED) Head Superintendent Ahmed Shifan said three individuals were arrested at Avista café in Malé on suspicion of drug trafficking.

Following the arrest, the police conducted a search of Sinamalé apartment 12-03, and found 18 bullets of suspected heroin and tools to pack narcotics. A fourth man was arrested at the apartment.

The police officer arrested in the case is 28 years of age while the two MNDF officers are 24 years of age and 28 years of age.

A further two men were arrested on charges of drug trafficking in Malé this week. They were caught on the stairway of Galholu Mithuru in Malé with 27 pieces of cellophane and 23 packets thought to contain illegal drugs.

There has been a spike in the number of police officers arrested in drug busts this year.

In March, the police arrested a police sergeant in a drug bust involving 24 kg of heroin. The MVR36 million haul is the largest from a police operation in the country’s history. Four Maldivians, three Bangladeshis and 11 Pakistanis were also taken into custody.

Police later revealed that the officer had used a local money transfer service to send money to an Iranian agent.

Local media reported in August that the officer was among three Maldivian suspects released from custody after the Prosecutor General’s Office decided there was insufficient evidence for prosecution.

On November 11, a police officer and eight others were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking from Lhaviyani Atoll Hinnavaru Island.

According to the police, 16 bullet-sized rubber packets of “a substance suspected to be drugs,” 241 bullet-sized rubber packets of heroin, and 145 packets of hash oil were seized during an operation conducted by the DED in Hinnavaru.

A police officer and two others were also arrested in a drug bust in Addu City in October.

Speaking at a conference of police division and atoll commanders on October 22, Home Minister Umar Naseer said criminal gangs in the atolls were attempting to infiltrate the police by forging personal relationships with police officers stationed in their islands.

Gangs attempt to “penetrate” police stations in order to gather information to carry out criminal activities, he said.

Naseer said complaints have been received from various islands about offenders quickly learning of a crime being reported to the police.

Information was thus “leaking” from within the police, he added.

“So some people hesitate to share information with some police stations. This is very regrettable,” he said.

Commanders in the atolls should ensure that police officers do not fraternise with known criminals or suspected drug dealers, Naseer urged.

Naseer said he had received complaints from various islands about police officers spending time with suspected drug dealers when they were off-duty.

Commanders should be aware of who their subordinate officers “go to coffees or picnics with,” he advised, which should be controlled to ensure the “credibility of the police force on that island or atoll.”

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Foreign terrorist organisations planning to topple government, claims Nasheed

Foreign terrorist organisations are planning to overthrow President Abdulla Yameen’s government with help from elements of the police and military, former President Mohamed Nasheed has claimed.

“The government of our country is on the edge of being toppled. Foreign terrorist organisations and domestic institutions are carrying out this work swiftly together,” Nasheed said at a gathering of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) last night near the Hulhumalé ferry terminal in Malé.

The opposition leader accused President Yameen of attempting to conceal the alleged efforts from the public, which Nasheed said would not benefit either Yameen or the Maldives.

The MDP would remain vigilant and watch developments closely, he said, adding that the party did not want any harm to befall the nation.

In late September, Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed dismissed allegations of links between Maldivian security services and foreign terrorist organisation as false and intended to bring disrepute to the police and military.

Waheed said such claims were harmful to national interest, adversely affects the economy, and could incite unrest and strife among the public.

Allegations that damage national interest and threaten national security would be investigated, Waheed warned, and “necessary action would be taken.”

Waheed’s remarks followed Nasheed claiming in an interview with the UK’s Independent newspaper that the vast majority of Maldivians fighting in Syria and Iraq were ex-military.

Following the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s claim in May that extremist ideologies were prevalent in the security services, the defence ministry dismissed the allegations as both “baseless and untrue” and intended to “discredit and disparage” the military.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) meanwhile issued a press release on September 18 condemning Nasheed’s allegations in the Independent.

While police estimated that about 24 persons with links to militant jihadist organisations might be active in the Maldives, MPS insisted that none of them were police officers.

“And the police leadership has always been working to ensure that such people are not formed within the police,” the statement read.

Police urged all parties to refrain from making false statements “to gain the public’s support, achieve political purposes, or win approval from foreign nations”.

Police and gangs

Nasheed meanwhile went on to say that the unexplained disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan109 days ago symbolises the extent to which security and personal safety have been lost.

The police had solved only 53 of the 465 cases filed this year, Nasheed claimed.

The reason police are unable to properly investigate the cases was due to the involvement of police officers in most of the cases, he alleged.

Elements of the police and military were tied to criminal gangs in Malé, he continued, which were in turn connected to foreign terrorist organisations.

“We see all the dark activities happening in the Maldives going on through this connection,” he said.

Nasheed had previously suggested that radicalised gangs were behind the recent “atrocities” in the capital, noting that extremist religious indoctrination of youth was a relatively recent phenomenon in the Maldives.

He further claimed that many young men from criminal gangs were seen in a protest march held in Malé on September 5 with participants bearing the militant organisation Islamic State (IS) flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Sharia.

Of the approximately 150 participants, Nasheed had said most were “active in gangs.”

Referring to a bomb threat made to a Flyme passenger flight this week, Nasheed noted last night that the incident occurred a year after a Flyme flight departing to Gaaf Dhaal Atoll Kaadehdhoo was delayed after a group threatened to hijack the plane.

“But police did not investigate the case,” he said, adding that the threats should be taken seriously.

“Our Maldives is under a dark cloud. Our Maldives is on the edge of a dangerous pit,” he said.

The MDP was forced to take to the streets once more because of President Yameen’s “carelessness and arrogance” in response to Rilwan’s disappearance, Nasheed said.

The party would not back down in efforts to hold the government accountable and push for good governance, he added.

Nasheed also claimed that an internal opinion poll conducted by the government revealed that its support among the public was below 25 percent.

The MDP’s victories in recent by-elections has shown that a majority was behind the opposition party, he contended.

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Criminal Court rejects Thinadhoo terrorism cases

The Criminal Court has today refused to accept terrorism charges against 89 opposition supporters from Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo Island.

Prosecutor General Muhthaz Muhsin resubmitted the cases after Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed dismissed the cases on Saturday after state prosecutors failed to attend a hearing scheduled for 10am.

The 89 are accused of setting fire to government buildings on Thinadhoo following former President Mohamed Nasheed’s ouster in February 2012.

Judge Abdulla had last week ordered 55 of the 89 defendants be held in detention pending the outcome of the trials, claiming the accused were intimidating witnesses. All have since been released.

Nasheed yesterday called on Muhsin to respect the judge’s decision stating: “Abdulla Mohamed has decided the case is invalid. When the prosecutor general submits the same cases to his desk again saying he has the power and authority of the state, that is an affront to the rule of law and courts.”

The former president also said that the military’s detention of the judge during his tenure was “wrong”.

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Islamic minister defends government policy on extremism

Defending the government’s stance on extremism and the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS), Islamic Minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has told the Majlis the “Maldives will not allow Maldivians to go and fight in foreign wars.”

Shaheem told MPs today that Islamic scholars have criticised and expressed concern over ISIS policies, and stressed that Western powers also faced the challenge in preventing their citizens from joining ISIS.

He did not provide specifics on preventive mechanisms, and declined to respond to a question by MP Ibrahim Mohamed Didi on whether ISIS constituted a threat to Maldives national security.

According to Jihadist media groups, at least four Maldivians have been killed while fighting in the Syrian civil war. Meanwhile, reports of Maldivians travelling abroad to Syria have increased this year.

In October, 23-year-old Ibrahim Ahsan departed to Syria with his wife, mother and 10-year-old sister, telling his father that the Maldives was a “land of sin”. On November 6, the Maldives Police Services and Sri Lankan police apprehended three Maldivians at the airport, on their way to Syria via Turkey.

“We do not support their [ISIS] extremist policies. We have repeatedly appealed to our beloved youth to refrain from falling prey to these ideologies,” he said.

The government had taken action to stop Maldivians from praying in independent congregations, he said.

The ministry first advises individuals who take part in authorised prayer congregations, and only takes action against their leaders if the congregations do not stop, he said.

The Imam of an unauthorised independent prayer congregation in Malé was arrested in early October after he prayed for God to destroy the government and for victory against the “irreligious” administration that was attempting to “obstruct the spreading of Allah’s message”.

Under the Religious Unity Act, permission and written approval must be sought from the Islamic Ministry to preach, give sermons, and issue religious edicts.

Shaheem said the Islamic Ministry has also received reports of unauthorised prayer congregations in island communities and reports of illegal out-of-court marriages.

“From our side, Islamic scholars and ministry’s scholars have been sent to meet these communities and religious advice programmes are ongoing,” he said.

The programme has been successful, he claimed, adding that religious advice had stopped several young people from participating in unauthorised congregations.

The Islamic ministry has also blocked several websites that published offensive cartoons or articles that harass the Qur’an and Prophet Mohamed in order to strengthen religious unity, he said.

The ministry has facilitated opportunity for those who wanted to commit the Qur’an to memory, and is planning videoconferencing lessons to students who want to study the Qur’an in the atolls.

Shaheem said he is “satisfied” with the government’s religious policy and appealed to the public for support.

“President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration is doing tremendous work to revive religious unity in the Maldives, uphold Islamic identity and strengthen faith.”


Related to this story

Maldivian jihadist fighter dies in Syria

Islamic Minister advises Maldivians against participating in foreign wars

Police arrest Imam of unauthorised independent prayer congregation

MDP questions sincerity of Islamic minister’s stance on ISIS

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PG withdraws failure to provide urine charges against former MP

The prosecutor general has withdrawn two charges of failure to provide urine against former Maldivian Democratic Party MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.

Charges were being pressed in relation to an incident on the uninhabited island of Hondaidhoo in November 2012 as well as an MDP protest in July of the same year.

Hamid’s subsequent refusal to attend the Criminal Court – citing parliamentary privileges while seeking refuge in the grounds of the People’s Majlis – resulted in a six months sentence being issued in October 2013.

Shortly after leaving the Majlis, having been promised house arrest by President Abdulla Yameen, Hamid was taken to jail before the High Court overturned the Criminal Court’s original sentence.

Both Hamid and Jabir’s separate alcohol possession charges have since been cleared by the Criminal Court.

Hamid announced last month that he is seeking MVR4.2 million (US$270,967) in compensation for the “illegal” jail sentence.

Fellow MDP MP Abdulla Jabir was also arrested on Hondaidhoo, and was sentenced to a year in jail in February for refusal to provide urine before Yameen pardoned him in July.

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New PIC and EC members appointed by president

President Abdulla Yameen has today appointed Amjad Musthafa to the Elections Commission (EC), and Adam Saeed Moosa to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

The nominees were both approved by the Peoples Majlis last week, with Amjad’s appointment filling one of the two EC seats left vacant after the Supreme Court stripped former EC President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Ahmed Fayaz Hassan of their membership in March.

The five year terms of two current commissioners – Mohamed Farooq and Ali Mohamed Manik – were scheduled to end today, meaning the EC does not currently have the constitutionally mandated quorum of three.

Moosa’s appointment to the PIC brings it up to the maximum of five appointees.

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President appoints Hassan Ziyath as new auditor general

President Abdulla Yameen has today appointed Hassan Ziyath as the new auditor general within one hour of gaining parliamentary approval.

Ziyath – who received the consent of the parliament at around 1.30 pm – was handed the letter of appointment by President Yameen at a function held at the president’s office around 2.30pm.

The new auditor general won the approval of the Majlis, with 59 of the voting members from across the parties unanimously supporting his appointment.

The nomination of Ziyath for the post by President Yameen has aroused contoversy as his brother, Abdulla Ziyath was recently implicated in a US$6 million corruption scandal alongside  tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb.

In an audit report released on October 29, then auditor general Niyaz Ibrahim accused Abdulla Ziyath – Managing Director of state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) – of illegally pushing through a US$6 million loan from state funds to two private companies.

The audit report was signed on the same day that the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives brought an amendment to the Audit Act requiring the president to reappoint the auditor general within 30 days of the amendments have been approved.

Ziyath was nominated out of the four individuals who applied for the post, which holds an equivalent salary to the president’s – currently at MVR100,000 (US$6500).

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had ferociously opposed the amendments, stating that the bill would allow the incumbent to be discharged without following the constitutional provisions for impeachment.

MDP MP Rozaina Adam on November 3 said that the party would challenge the constitutionality of the amendment, though it was subsequently with 36 MPs voting in favor and 22 against.

Meanwhile, Niyaz – who had served only three years of his seven year long term – told local media that he would not apply for the post again, instead choosing to challenge the constitutionality of the amendments in the Supreme Court.

While speaking to Haveeru at the time, Niyaz said that he received threats and intimidation from the tourism minister after he started investigating the corruption scandal.

However, Adeeb condemned the report as politically motivated, and accused Niyaz of colluding with MP and former Deputy Speaker of Majlis Ahmed Nazim to discredit him after he refused to back Nazim for the Majlis Speakership in May.

Adeeb also expressed dismay at reports that Nazim had attempted to link him with the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan.


Related to this story

Brother of official implicated in MMPRC corruption scandal nominated for Auditor General

Majlis passes amendment allowing president to reappoint auditor general

Tourism Minister implicated in US$6million corruption scandal

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